Knit a River

Can you knit a blue square?

I Knit has been a campaigner and volunteer for WaterAid for the last couple of years and has been knitting for even longer. I Knit London was founded as a way to meet knitters and make new friends.It soon became apparent that knitting and campaigning can combine to change the world!

Over the past 25 years WaterAid has helped over 20 million people gain access to life saving water and sanitation. Today 1.1 billion people still do not have access to safe water and effective sanitation which I Knit finds unacceptable.

WaterAid is doing a brilliant job and they have many people fundraising which pays for the work in the 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia but if they rely on fundraising alone many more people will die needlessly. Working to compliment the fundraisers is a brilliant team in the Public Policy and Education Department at WaterAid. This department is home to campaigns. Knit A River is a new campaign. The idea is simple. We need knitters to send I Knit knitted blue squares of 15x15cm (6inches). The squares will be sewn together to form a 'river' which will flow through the centre of London and will be used at future WaterAid events, carrying the message:
WATER AND TOILETS FOR ALL

Can you knit a blue square?

The squares can be of any yarn, material, shade or pattern. Be as creative, or as simple, as you wish and send as many blue squares as you can knit! The only rule is that they are blue (and as close to 15cm as possible).

Campaign with I Knit and WaterAid, help save lives: help Knit A River.

http://www.iknit.org.uk/

http://www.wateraid.org/knitariver

www.myspace.com/iknitlondon

or join our myspace group:http://groups.myspace.com/knitariver

Email knitariver@iknit.org.uk for more information or if you have an questions or can help us promote the campaign, please post a reply or e-mail me directly. The campaign has already receive a great response from knitters in both the US and some parts of Europe.

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Keep those squares coming in! We can't post them all, but we'll update this blog with a selection of blue squares on a regular basis....

20/06/2006: Today we received this beautiful square from Wendy in Canterbury, New Zealand - I counted seven different yarns!!

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25/06/2006: The end of another week and here's just a selection of the squares we received....every day is a surprise and we love it....!